Tell us about House of Creativity. How, when, and why did it happen?
House of creativity was an idea that came to me a few years ago when I noticed that my sister has always loved to paint. My brother and I are passionate about photography, so I thought about coming up with a platform to assist talented artists to showcase their talent. There is so much talent in India; however, most of them never seem to find the right platform to showcase their talent, and that is how House of Creativity was born.
What is the core philosophy of House of Creativity?
The core philosophy of House of Creativity is to empower artists by allowing them to showcase their talent to the world. There are so many artists who are phenomenal at their work, but they don’t know how to reach out to a larger audience. Today with so much of social media and digital clutter, it has because easy as well as challenging, and hence we want to empower and help these artists reach out to a larger number of people.
How does the House of Creativity choose the artists and their works to be on display on the website?
We have an in-house team that curates the artists as they are primarily from the art world. We also have a method via which talented artists can submit their work, and I must admit that we have received a lot of entries. We cannot have everyone put up their work as there is a selection process that includes Sonakshi, Khush and myself. Having said that, just because we are not able to have everyone’s work on our website does not mean that they are any less talented. It just means that we are not able to connect with their work as per our personal assessment.
Can you talk about the recent association with the BMC, the Mahim Wall Painting initiative, with how you partnered with Painter Shabbu?
The Mahim beach wall art is receiving a lot of appreciation, and we were very happy about it. This was something that Mr. Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of that area, got in touch with me, and we decided that we would like to do something around the beach area and make it stand out. We discussed a few ideas, and basis the brief, I found Shabbu Painter from a reference, and I contacted him. He came to Mumbai, and we brainstormed. Mr. Dighavkar himself had a few valuable inputs that he suggested we incorporate into the artwork. The message that we tried to convey was that the wall art is a reflection of Mumbai. Think of it as reflecting Mumbai or the Bandra Promenade that is reflected on this wall, along with showcasing the Mahim beach area. I am glad that it worked out well in terms of the final artwork.
What prompted the three of you to start a business venture together, and that too in the middle of a pandemic? What was the thought process?
We did not plan to start in the middle of a pandemic. In fact, our work had begun well before. When the pandemic hit, we could not put our work aside as we had to work to the best of our abilities and co-ordinate with our team members as it is an e-commerce website focused on art, we could continue to do our work without having to stop the process as it was digital work, which is why we did not have an issue, and the thought process of working together was that all three of us are creative in a different way and it was something that I wanted to do with my family. Also, all of us bring different strengths to the table. For example, Sonakshi, Kussh, and I have our own abilities or skillsets that I wanted to combine.
How do you see the future of House of Creativity in the Post- Pandemic World?
What I am hoping for is that we host exhibitions at places like an art gallery, exclusive events showing artwork to interest consumers so that they can see it Infront of their eyes. Because the experience that you get when seeing something Infront of your screen is very different when you see it in person. I also feel that there is an emotional connection when you see the artwork in person as opposed to a digital platform. That is what we are hoping for, along with sales and, most notably, helping our existing and upcoming artists.
I am very optimistic, and while there are challenges, we will figure out a way to work around those challenges.
Divya Agarwal
